Vietnam draws up rules for foreign education agents

The Vietnamese government is drafting regulations to recognize, for the first time, foreign organizations that provide educational services for students seeking degrees abroad.

According to local media reports, the Ministry of Education and Training believed the new legislation will make it easier to manage the booming industry.

Many foreign agents offering placement and consultancy services have already thrived in the country, but they are not governed by any rule at the moment.

Vietnamese students from local high schools meet with a US college representative during a US Higher Education Fair in Hanoi. Photo by AFP

The number of Vietnamese students going abroad has risen dramatically in recent years.

As of November 2016, Vietnam had sent over 30,000 students to the US, ranking sixth among countries with the most students at American educational institutions, according to the latest US Student and Exchange Visitor Program report.

To put things in perspective, Vietnam has surpassed Japan in total enrollment and come close to Canada. The current number of Vietnamese students in the US has almost doubled that in 2009, when the country first made it to the top 10 with some 16,000 students.

Vietnam has continued to distance itself from other Southeast Asian peers, to be the top source of students in the region for the US.

Australia, Singapore and the UK are among other favorite destinations of Vietnamese students.

The education ministry said it will also introduce new rules to officially recognize foreign accreditation organizations in the country.